The invention herein pertains to a safety device for use by race car drivers and others that are subjected to sudden, abrupt stops of their vehicles whereby harsh forces applied can cause head and neck injuries.
In recent years race cars and other vehicles have obtained higher speeds and more rapid acceleration which in turn creates hazardous conditions for the drivers. While seat belts have contributed to greater safety and have helped minimize driver and passenger injuries by maintaining the drivers or passengers in their seats, high speed impacts are still often fatal as the head and neck remain vulnerable to whiplash and contact injuries. HANS devices are one recent attempt to prevent such head and neck injuries by restricting the movement of the head. However, HANS devices allow little if any rotation or front to back movement of the head, thereby creating a xe2x80x9cclaustrophobicxe2x80x9d effect for many drivers, thus making their use somewhat undesirable.
Also, certain prior art devices which may be effective in preventing head and neck injuries are awkward and time consuming to adorn and are sometimes dangerous in that the wearer cannot quickly escape in the event of an accident, and he may not be capable of manipulating complex release mechanisms due to sustained injuries.
Thus, with the problems and disadvantages of prior art vehicle restraint safety devices known, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide a restraint device and method to protect the head and neck which will allow the user full head rotation but only limited front to rear movement, thus preventing excessive forward head movement and whiplash action.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a restraint device which can be readily placed in conventional race cars and other vehicles.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a head restraint device which allows the user normal head rotation from side to side and limited, dampened front to back movement as required for the individual user.
It is also an objective of the present invention to provide a head restraint device which is attached to the top of the helmet or other headgear and to the vehicle compartment frame thus preventing an obstruction or difficulty while entering or exiting the vehicle.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a head restraint device which can be quickly and easily attached or disattached from the headgear as needed using one hand.
Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.
The aforesaid and other objectives are realized by providing a vehicle head restraint device which is slidably attached to the vehicle compartment frame. The restraint device includes a harness having a plurality of cables which allow only limited, selective front to back head movement but allows freedom in side to side head rotation. Thus, when the driver is seated in the vehicle and the restraint device attached to the top of his helmet, the driver can turn his head normally to view out the left and right side windows. However, should the vehicle strike a wall or other obstacle, the harness will efficiently prevent excessive front to back head movement or whiplash action which can cause a fatality.
The restraint device includes a connector in the form of a planar plate which is affixed to a series of cables slidably attached to the front and rear of the compartment frame. An aperture within the connector allows a helmet post to be received therethrough. When so positioned, a quick release pin passes through the top of the post thus preventing the post from inadvertent withdrawal from the connector aperture. The cables pass from the connector through guides on the compartment frame and stops at the terminal end of the cables allowing only limited sliding movement for each of the cables. Resilient members in the form of compression springs retard or dampen the movement of the cable as forces are applied to the cables upon impact, such as when the vehicle crashes into a wall.